Snap, Crackle, Pop
by em j
Summary: The Doctor is forced to face up to the differences between his life and Rose's. One shot. 10th Doctor.


**My first ever Doctor Who fic and it's a bit random. Please feel free to review, as it's always appreciated!**

**Hope you enjoy it.**

**Em xx **

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**"Come on, Doctor," Rose whined, a teasing smile on her face as she tugged on the Doctor's sleeve. "Please. Just one day." 

"Rose, I-" the Doctor protested, pulling away from her grasp. "We were only there last week!"

"Ple-ease." Rose dragged the word out into several syllables. "One day – I promise."

The Doctor made the mistake of meeting Rose's pleading gaze. Her unblinking eyes worked their magic on him. "One day?"

"One day."

"And you won't make me go shopping?"

"Oxford Street on a Saturday? Are you kidding me? I'd rather battle the Cybermen and the Slytheen, with a werewolf thrown in, than fight against those crowds."

"Promise?"

"Brownie's honour." Rose held up her hand but failed to make any recognisable sign.

"You were a Brownie?" the Doctor asked disbelievingly.

"For one week."

"What happened?"

"They made the mistake of giving me a pair of real scissors rather than those plastic ones that couldn't cut paper." The Doctor raised his eyebrows in query. "I cut off another girl's hair."

"No wonder they threw you out."

"Oh, they didn't throw me out," Rose laughed. "They called Mum in and she decided that my creative instinct was being stifled She told me I wasn't going back." She met the Doctor's gaze and laughed once again at the both confused and amused look on his face. "I never did get over the disappointment. Next week I was going to be making rice krispie cakes."

I.I.I.I.I

"Rose!" Jackie exclaimed, pulling her daughter into a tight embrace. "I wasn't expecting to see you here so soon!"

"I wasn't expecting to be here so soon," the Doctor murmured under his breath. Jackie looked up at him upon the sound of his voice but the Doctor presumed she had not heard his words because she proceeded to pull him into a tight hug also. "Jackie!" he cried out with feigned enthusiasm. "I'd quite like to be able to breathe, if you don't mind."

"Oh, you!" Jackie separated herself from the embrace and gave the Doctor a playful slap on the arm, which he was convinced would leave a bruise. "Cuppa?" she offered. "I'd just put the kettle on."

The Doctor had come to realise that the kettle was permanently on in the Tyler household. He rubbed his hands together. "Lovely. A cup of tea. Nothing like it in the universe."

Jackie looked suitably pleased. "Right then, are you coming, Rose?" She began to head for the kitchen, her daughter in tow.

Just before Rose disappeared into the kitchen she turned and flashed the Doctor a grateful smile.

I.I.I.I.I

"Do you mind if I put Countdown on?" Jackie asked, already standing up to switch on the television. "I do like to try and do the number problems. Last week I got only 2 out, you know?" She returned to the sofa with the remote control and put the right channel on, just as the theme tune began. "What timing!" she exclaimed. "Not that it's the same since that lovely Richard Whitely died. Des tries his best, bless him, but it's just not the same, you know? And that Carol Vorderman, she does get on my nerves sometimes. But it gets your brain working, does Countdown. And that woman who does the dictionary – she's so clever, she is."

Rose and the Doctor exchanged a glance, exasperated and amused, as Jackie continued to chat. As the contestants were introduced, she stood up again. "Do you want a bit of paper, Rose love? I like to try and do the puzzles myself. Not that I'm very good. And you, Doctor?"

Rose also pulled herself into a standing position. "Actually, Mum, I think I might go for a walk before dinner. But I'm sure the Doctor would love to join in."

The Doctor shot Rose a killer glance but she refused to meet his gaze, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Oh good!" Jackie replied. "And you take care, love. You know how early it gets dark at this time of year."

"Yes, Mum. Bye."

As the door closed behind Rose, the Doctor realised escape was not an option. He had been in some tight situations in his life but entrapment with Jackie Tyler and Countdown was one he was not going to be able to get out of.

I.I.I.I.I

"Diplomacy!"

"Nine letters again!"

"Who would have thought this could be so much fun?" the Doctor said gleefully, mentally keeping track of his score. He was already 26 points ahead of the winning contestant.

"You're pretty good, aren't you?" Jackie replied, clearly impressed.

"Tea and Countdown – sometimes I think humans are much cleverer than the Universe takes them for."

"Yes." Jackie clearly decided not to push this comment further. "I have the first ever series on DVD – Rose bought it for me last Christmas. It has Richard Whitely and everything."

This, the Doctor thought, was pushing things a little far. "Maybe next time, Jackie."

"Oh, alright then," she said, looking slightly disappointed. This feeling did not last long, however, as she stood up and moved over to the window. "Look at that – 4.30 and it's already dark. I do hate these short days." She pulled the curtains shut with one sharp movement. "I wonder where Rose has got to. Maybe she's visiting Vicky; last time she was here she did say that she had been meaning to. Do you think I should put dinner in the oven?"

"I can honestly tell you, I have no idea."

"What kind of answer is that?"

"The truth."

"Ah."

"If you like, I could tell you that Rose will be back in exactly twenty three minutes and thirty six seconds."

Now Jackie looked extremely impressed. "How do you know that? Have you been to our future or something?"

The Doctor looked incredulous. "I made it up, Jackie."

"Oh. I'll put the oven on then."

I.I.I.I.I

Rose wandered through the streets, gazing at the clear sky above her. It was cold and she could feel the hairs on her arms standing on end beneath her thin jacket. But she could not bring herself to go home. The blackness, dotted with the gleaming jewels that were the stars and planets, drew her full attention. She had been out there, but in this moment she could not believe it; actually, she did not want to believe it. There had always been something about space that had intrigued her from a very young age; everything was such a mystery. Now it no longer was. Of course, there was always more to explore; she could never hope to see everything. But in this moment she took herself back to the days when she actually had been oblivious to the Doctor and his amazing travels. She remembered lying on her back in a park next to Mickey, stargazing. For a moment a strange sense of wistfulness washed over her. She longed for that innocence and ignorance – _ignorance is bliss, _someone once said, although she could not remember who.

She sat down on a bench and pulled out her mobile phone. As ever, she had reception. That was not much of a surprise here, but it still settled her to see those small bars lit up on the screen; it was a constant which always reassured her.

For a few blissful moments she simply stared, holding her phone in her hand. Then, all of a sudden, an arm thrust itself around her neck. "Give me the phone," a voice hissed into her ear. "I've got a knife."

Rose's body tensed. "Get off me," she snapped in return, a strange confidence taking over her.

"Your phone," the voice insisted.

"I said, get off me," Rose repeated, struggling.

"Did you hear me? I have a knife."

Rose knew she should just hand over her phone but she also knew she was not going to. It was her constant; it came everywhere with her. She was damned if she was going to hand it over to some drug addicted teenager. "I'm not giving you anything."

Her attacker did not seem sure what to do. His grip around her neck tightened and then she sensed his other hand reaching into his pocket. In an instant she saw a metallic silver glint in the darkness as he waved a small pocket knife in front of her, dangerously close to her face. She flinched. Who had she been kidding? It was not her travels that had caused her to lose her innocence; there had been none on Earth to begin with.

I.I.I.I.I

"The pizza's ruined," Jackie moaned. "Rose knows what time dinner is."

"Like you said, she's probably visiting a friend." Jackie nodded in agreement, but neither she nor the Doctor was convinced. "Shall I go for a walk and try to find her?"

"Would you mind?"

"Of course not."

"I'm sure she's fine."

"I'm sure she is."

"But you never know."

"You never do," the Doctor agreed. "I'll go then, shall I?"

"You do that."

I.I.I.I.I

The Doctor was beginning to feel slightly unnerved. His gut instincts often told him very useful things; they were more reliable than those of the majority of humans. He closed his eyes and concentrated hard. "Come on, Rose," he murmured quietly. "Where are you?" His instincts said turn right. Another instinct told him to ignore his instincts. He went left.

He had been walking for a couple of minutes when he heard voices, unclear but urgent, coming from a few metres away. With nothing better to go on, he followed his impressive sense of hearing along a dark street, intermittently lit by street lights. One was flashing irritatingly; the sign of a bulb on its last legs. The Doctor reached into his jacket and brought out his sonic screwdriver. It could do more interesting things than this, but he might as well save the council some money. He pointed it at the streetlight and all of a sudden the whole street was lit up by a powerful glow. "Whoops," he said. "Too much." But before he had time to reduce the lamp's intensity he spotted two faces gazing up at it in confusion. "Rose?" he called out, not comprehending the scene before him. "Your Mum's going to have your guts for garters…a perfectly good pizza has been burnt to a crisp-"

There he stopped as he realised Rose's companion was not Vicky, nor any other of her friends. Standing behind her on the bench was a boy of around seventeen, with a hood pulled up over his heads. The dreaded 'hoodie', the Doctor thought; who would have thought that in fifty years it would become vintage fashion? "Who's your friend?" he called out, but slightly hesitantly, as he walked towards the pair. His gaze met Rose's and he saw in her eyes fear. She shook her head almost imperceptibly but the teenage boy obviously sensed the movement.

"Don't move," he hissed, his eyes flashing between Rose and the Doctor. He was evidently panicking and did not know what to do. "I've got a knife!" he yelled, informing the Doctor and asserting the point with Rose.

In that moment the Doctor spotted the glint of metal pressed up against Rose's throat. He froze. "Come on, you don't want to do this," he murmured quietly, but audibly.

The boy glanced up at him, taking a moment to absorb the scene before him; a man dressed in a pin stripe suit underneath a long brown coat – there was something odd and out of place about the outfit but he could not quite decide what it was. In his hand was a strange metallic instrument, which glowed slightly even beneath the bright light of the streetlamp.

The Doctor watched the boy watching him and then turned his eyes to Rose. She pleaded with him silently and he took a few more steps towards her. "I said don't move!" the boy cried out immediately and the Doctor stopped in his tracks. "Turn around," he demanded, trying to maintain an air of calm but with a quavering voice. "Leave us alone."

"And why would I want to do that?"

"Because I told you to," the boy replied. "And I have a knife."

"And I have a sonic screwdriver," the Doctor replied. The boy stared back in confusion as the Doctor fished through his pockets. "And I'm a policeman," he declared, holding up his magic paper. The boy squinted uncertainly. "Or a spy? Or a journalist?" the Doctor suggested. "You tell me what scares you most." He smiled, a wacky grin that served to confuse the teenage boy who simply pressed the knife against Rose's throat with increasing pressure. "Hey, hey," the Doctor protested, taking a small step back. "There's no need for that."

The boy's eyes were shifty now, with uncertainty and fear, as he glanced about himself nervously. He could not see further than a few metres to either side of him because of the blindingly intense light coming from above. "I just want your phone," he hissed, sounding as though he both wanted to defend his actions and get this situation over and done with.

"Come on, Rose," the Doctor suggested. "Do what the nice boy says."

I.I.I.I.I

Rose could feel the cold metal up against her throat and she hardly dared breath for fear that the sharp blade would pierce her skin. "Do what the nice boy says," she heard the Doctor instruct her from somewhere in the distance. She could hardly believe what she was hearing. Give in? She had no such plans.

She raised her gaze and spotted the Doctor, like an angel beneath the glow of the streetlamp; he stood against the backdrop of the bright glow. His gaze met hers and in a moment she felt much braver than she really was. Gripping her phone hard in her hand, she raised her other arm and, in one swift movement, she elbowed her attacker hard, letting out a cry. She heard him protest as she swung around and blindly threw a punch that miraculously made contact with his nose. She winced as she felt a crunch and heard him cry out. His arms flailed against hers and she felt a sharp pain down her arm and then the sensation of warm blood trickling down her skin. Once again she swung her arms in a battle against him but the pain in her right arm allowed her little movement.

She was aware of the sound of running footsteps approaching and with one final rush of strength she lifted her right arm and punched the boy hard in the face. All of a sudden he seemed to admit defeat. She saw flashes of both anger and fear in his face as he turned and ran.

The reality of what had just happened suddenly hitting her, she collapsed onto the bench and placed her head between her knees and stared at the floor. She sensed the Doctor take a seat next to her and then felt his hand rest gently on her back. But she was unable to see the look on his face; fear, helplessness and vulnerability.

I.I.I.I.I

"My poor baby," Jackie cooed, pressing down the cold towel onto Rose's arm.

"I'm alright, Mum," Rose reassured her. "It was just a stupid teenage boy."

"He had a knife, Rose!" Jackie protested. "You could have been seriously hurt! You could have been-"

"But I wasn't," Rose interrupted. "I'm fine."

"You should have just given him your phone."

Rose did not reply. She knew her mother was probably right but she was not going to admit this. "I've seen worse," she eventually managed.

"I'm sure you have," Jackie replied, although she sounded as though she did not really believe her daughter; mainly she was ignorant to the horrors of the universe. "But that doesn't mean you have to try and be superwoman. Who knows what would have happened if the Doctor hadn't turned up?"

Rose decided not to tell her Mum that in fact the Doctor had done very little. It was nice to have her defending him for once. "Where is he?" she asked instead.

"I don't know," Jackie replied, pressing harder on the towel and making Rose wince. "He just said he was popping out for a minute. I don't know what he was thinking, after something like this…"

I.I.I.I.I

The Doctor stood in the Tardis, his hands resting against the central controls and his head lowered. He was so engrossed in thought that he hardly heard Rose enter. Her voice disturbed him. "Doctor?" He spun around. She stood in the doorway; her arm was bandaged carefully from the wrist to the elbow. The sight of this upset him too much; he had to look away. "What is it?" Rose asked, confused, stepping inside the Tardis.

"Nothing," he murmured quietly.

She was not fooled. "I can tell when something's up, Doctor," she said softly. "What's wrong?"

He looked up and forced a smile onto his face as he said, "I'm fine, honestly!" He evidently was not convincing, as Rose pulled a face. "It's just-" he began, but immediately regretted it.

"It's just what?"

Now there was no way back. "I let you down."

"What?" Rose sounded genuinely sceptical.

"I've saved you from so many things-"

"Hey!" Rose protested. "I seem to remember I played a part in several of those. And I think I may have saved you once or twice too!"

The Doctor managed a weak smile. "We've saved each other, then," he corrected.

"That's better."

"But tonight- tonight, I did nothing." He stuck his hands in his pockets awkwardly. "I've battled creatures that that boy wouldn't believe. But I couldn't fight him."

"What were you meant to do?" Rose asked. "He had a knife."

"Pressed up against your throat."

"Trust me, I know that."

"I just chatted away like an idiot. You had to defend yourself."

"I didn't give you time, that's all."

"I didn't have a clue what to do, Rose."

"Neither did I."

"But you did – you fought him off. I should have been rescuing you – not you rescuing yourself."

"I don't need rescuing, thank you very much," Rose laughed, but her humour was awkward.

"You know what?" the Doctor asked. "Do you know why I couldn't do anything?"

"Why?"

"Because it was all too…ordinary."

"Ordinary?"

"That boy didn't have a laser gun or some clever way of decapitating me from half a mile away. He didn't have ten eyes, or two heads, or tentacles. He was a teenage boy with a knife. And I didn't know what to do."

"And I wouldn't know what to do if I faced any of those things you just said."

"It's not your place to know."

"It's not your place to deal with teenage muggers," Rose emphasised.

"The truth is, Rose, I don't know what to do in your life."

"My life?"

"This – Earth. I can score the nine letter words on Countdown, but what good is that to me? I can't make ordinary conversation. I can't sit down and have a drink without standing out by a mile. I can't deal with everyday things; with everyday threats like today." Rose looked confused. "I don't fit in here."

"Well, we'll go. I only said a day."

"But you do."

"What?"

"You do fit in here. This is your home but I can't deal with it unless it's being invaded by alien life forms. Because then I fit in – I'm an alien, Rose."

"I know that."

"Do you?"

"Yes." Rose stared at the Doctor for so long he had no choice but to meet her gaze. As soon as he had done so, he could not avert his eyes. She took slow steps towards him and cautiously wrapped her arms around him. He felt himself return the embrace. "We'll go, tonight," she whispered.

"And when we have to come back?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

I.I.I.I.I

"You can't even stay tonight?"

"I'm sorry, Mum."

Jackie stared at her daughter. "I suppose I should just be glad that you came in the first place." Rose smiled and hugged her Mum tightly.

"I love you."

"I love you too, Rose." Jackie pulled out of the embrace and turned to look at the Doctor. "You take care of her."

The Doctor smiled, but something about the look on his face was not entirely convinced. "I'll do my best."

I.I.I.I.I

The Doctor awoke long before Rose. He could not just lie in bed so he got up quickly and began to plan where they were going to go next. Now they were back here, in the Tardis, travelling the Universe, everything seemed alright again. Something deep inside told him that it was not, but he shoved these feelings aside and allowed himself to be ruled by his two hearts.

If he couldn't take Rose home, he could at least try and make her feel as though she was there.

I.I.I.I.I

When Rose woke up she could smell baking. Climbing out of bed and into an old dressing gown, she wandered through the Tardis trying to source the smell. Eventually she found it, pushing the door open to find the Doctor sitting at a table with a plate in front of him.

"Peckish?" he asked, a grin on his face.

"What have you done?" Rose asked sceptically, but unable to stop a smile from gracing her lips.

"I'm just sorry you've had to wait so long for this."

"For what?"

"I've made you rice krispie cakes."


End file.
